


You're Cute, You Stupid Prep

by gr3asy_p1ss_l1zard



Series: Kylux High School AU [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Out of Character, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23142937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gr3asy_p1ss_l1zard/pseuds/gr3asy_p1ss_l1zard
Summary: This is a bonus chapter for my other Star Wars fic, You Fucking Emo, I Love You. This one is written from the POV of Kylo Ren and I still haven't decided whether or not the main work is hurt/no comfort or slow burn. So eh, hope this helps.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Kylux High School AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663588
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	You're Cute, You Stupid Prep

Kylo Ren wasn't sure what to think anymore.

On one hand, he liked women. Girls. Females. Humans with XX chromosomes.

But on the other hand, his traitorous chest fluttered a little every time he saw Percival Hux smile. Which confused the hell out of him on like 8 different levels.

It was wrong, he thought. To be attracted to one of the same gender. Yet, despite knowing that Hux was attracted to males and non-binary people in addition to females, he could see nothing wrong with the ginger.

On the other hand, he could certainly see several things right with the sophomore prep.

The first time he ever met the older boy, he disliked him. Maybe even hated him. The ginger radiated strong prep energy and seemed to have not one but seven sticks up his ass at all times. He was total asshole material, smart and cunning yes, but also perfectionistic and full of himself. Kylo HATED him.

A lot.

Perhaps that's why it surprised him to learn that Hux shared his taste in music. That Hux liked anime (a little too much even, Ren thought). That Hux was just as fragile and insecure as Ren himself.

It was strange to see someone with so much talent, strength and charisma doubt himself. And almost made Kylo want to ~~protect him~~ be his friend.

And it helped that Hux was almost as happy to check out hot debate girls as he was. And he had a magnificent collection of anime girls saved to his datapad.

Kylo couldn't help but wink at him in the first round he ever did. Poor, always composed Hux looked so nervous he might cry. And it was no secret to Ren that Hux wasn't his biggest fan. He wasn't sure why that bothered him. But he also knew that angering Hux a little would only help his performance.

The defiant expression that Hux shot back at him only seemed to confirm his theory. Hux hated him.

And while part of him was glad he was right and didn't ever want to be liked by this dumbass prep, a smaller part of him was a little sad. Just a little.

Watching Hux's rounds as the season went on became a more and more enjoyable experience, Kylo thought. Hux was getting better and better, his speaking smooth and convincing, his well structured delivery of his case and rebuttal evident even to Kylo's relatively untrained ears.

But that wasn't the only reason he began to make a point of attending Hux's every round. A small and increasingly loud part of him enjoyed watching the way Hux would scrunch up his nose while taking notes, the way Hux licked his lips before a speech, the distracted little twitch of his fingers that pushed his glasses up his nose. He even liked watching Hux's facial expressions of desperation in hard rounds, that moment when he looked at Ren and just for a split second let his composition go and his crippling fear and doubt show.

Hux was just cute, Ren decided.

Not exactly the best thought for a totally straight male to have but Ren tried to be confident enough in his own sexuality to acknowledge when another man looked good. Although 'looking good' was maybe a bit of an understatement when it came to what he though of Hux. Hux looked amazing.

Perfect, really.

It wasn't even just that his hair was always perfectly cut and gelled, that he was always clean and pleasant smelling, that his clothing was always straightened to an impeccable level of ideal. Hux was straight up just cute.

Ren had never really had a preference for hair colors (at least not one he would admit) but after Hux, he might have to admit he was partial to redheads. To the point that the mere sight of ginger hair sent his heart into cartwheels.

And it made finding the rather short Hux in a crowd that much easier.

There were several times Ren wanted to slap himself. He wasn't used to feeling doubt about his feelings toward someone. And he certainly wasn't used to worrying that his presence became annoying to anyone. Going through primary school thinking he was God's gift to the universe certainly left a lot of holes in him when it came to analyzing flaws.

Or analyzing anything really. He simply couldn't figure out whether or not he simply wanted to be friends with Hux or actually liked him.

It was the strangest experience. He had never before doubted whether or not he liked a girl. If he liked a girl, he just did. It was obvious to him.

But the idea of him liking a guy was wrong. Not because being gay was wrong, just became HIM being gay seemed wrong. He had spent his whole life in total confidence of his sexuality and was borderline annoyed that he wasn't anymore.

The weird tension that hung in the air every time he and Hux were alone didn't make things any better.

The first meet where it had really become evident to him was snowy. The ride to the planet had been calm and uneventful, Ren playing a game on his datapad and Hux, next to him but leaning away, listening to metal crashing in his ears. (Ren would never really come to terms with the fact that preppy Hux listened to metal. Never.)

Dinner had left him hungry (because the food was unappealing) and concerned (because Hux ate basically nothing).

But the real mental struggle was when they got to the pool. When he first walked in, the room was warm and Hux was squinting at him almost menacingly from the hot tub.

Then he realized that Hux wasn't wearing his glasses. His eyes, once he stopped squinting in a vain attempt to see, were a soft green-grey color, wide and almost round in a way that Ren had never seen them before. Behind Hux's sterile, doctorish frames, his eyes always looked calculating and serious but without his glasses, he looked three years younger and a thousand times more innocent.

Okay, he looked cute. Really cute.

The though surprised Ren so much that he could barely spit out a greeting towards Hux. It didn't help that he was seeing Hux shirtless and without his glasses for the first time in a month and this time, they weren't doing anything to distract him from staring.

He said something, something random, and relished the blush that spread across Hux's milky white skin.

It was then and there that he decided he would do exactly what he always did. He would flirt with Hux until he figured out whether or not he actually wanted to.

The only problem was that he had never actually flirted with a guy. Sure, Hux might be 5'8'' and blessed with the most surprisingly feminine face Ren had ever seen in a guy but he was still a guy and Ren didn't know what to say to him.

The other problem was that Kylo had never fallen for anyone preppy before. He tended to like the wild and free types, those girls who cared more about having a good time than starting a steady relationship.

Actually, he had no idea what Hux's type in a relationship was. Maybe Hux would be just as willing to have a good time as him.

He was actually very sad the next day, when he didn't get to watch any of Hux's rounds the whole tournament. Damn them for not having the events in waves. But on the other hand, waiting for Hux outside the doors for his rounds, walking back with him as Hux word vomited an analysis of his performance, letting his own warm fingers brush against Hux's ice cold ones, that was a good enough trade for Ren.

They ended up having to stay a second night at the hotel because of the worsening weather conditions on the planet. And of course, neither Hux nor Ren was going to let another chance at the pool pass them by. Even if they had to let Pryde tag along.

Somehow, in the midst of them fighting under the water and jumping off every surface available, Hux and Ren ended up face to face in the water, Hux's arms around Ren's waist as they stopped, the whole universe narrowing and slowing, in the middle of their fun.

That small but increasingly louder part of Ren screamed at him to kiss Hux, if only to watch his face turn as red as his hair.

Hux's hair really was beautiful wet, hanging like molten copper across his face, as if little strings of fire were clinging to his skin. Why on earth God had made red the rarest hair color, Ren would never know. Why make something so beautiful so hard to come by.

And Hux was certainly hard to come by. He had been playing with Hux's shoelaces for the whole of practice the following week and only when they had 20 minutes left to go did Hux begin to tap on Ren's shoes back. All while showing him memes behind their coach's back.

Hux was a veritable treasure chest of surprises, really. And apparently, of adorableness because he blushed like an anime character when Ren untied his shoelaces and gave him a wink before rising to leave the classroom. Hux was going to be the death of him.

The first meet on Coruscant, the one before the Galatic tournament yielded yet more surprises from one Armitage Hux. For one, he was willing to break the rules and for two, he apparently didn't mind people playing with his calves. Ren wasn't sure why he started doing that. He just thought it was funny, the way Hux jerked every time Ren's fingers brushed behind his knee.

He still wasn't sure whether or not Hux was responding to the contact or simply ticklish. But needless to say, it was a fun game.

It was perhaps two weeks later when realized two very important things.

One, he was incredibly invested in debate and had been since the very first tournament. He loved it and cared about it in a way that he hadn't at the beginning of the year when Han forced him to join. And this was entirely due to Hux. Hux's performance at the very first meet had impressed him enough to put in effort that he never would have before and his improving performance had continued to inspire Ren greatly. To put it simply, he looked up to Hux a great deal. More than anyone on the team. Maybe more than anyone ever.

And two, he had a crush on Hux. A small one, to be sure, and something that he was hoping with all his heart would fade once the debate season ended (because he wasn't fool enough to think he could handle reducing their interactions to a polite nod in the hallways and a few sparing messages). But it was undeniable.

And it was making Ren question himself in an area he had never had to think about before.

Because Hux was cute. And incredibly smart, and funny and shared his shitty sense of humor and taste in music and hobbies. And he was undeniably not a girl. And Ren liked him. A lot.

The Galatic tournament marked what was quite possibly the best three days of Kylo Ren's life. For one, he not only got to sit pressed against Hux for almost 10 minutes when they dropped off Pryde's little sister at the primary school but he also got the chance to share stories from his childhood with a captive audience. That audience being a surprisingly interested Hux.

The very first round of the night went great. He lost, epically, and he knew it. The topic for the round (he was doing value debate, a form of debate with an improvised case based on a new topic every round) was concerning the assignment of group work and Ren had never done value debate at a meet before.

But on the bright side, Hux had a bye and they got to observe a senior debater's round together. Something about being a. around your newly realised crush and b. in a place where you aren't supposed to laugh made everything infinitely funnier and he and Hux were both in tears with laughter by the end of the round.

Hux's first round of the night went badly, even Ren could tell. Hux's performance was actually fine, but he was tired, caffeinated and losing his focus. Ren could practically feel the despair and embarrassment radiating off of Hux. He wasn't sure why Hux was so embarrassed - he had done far worse in Ren's presence before. But Hux was feeling like a failure and Ren could say nothing to help.

The second day went far better, at least for Hux. Not only did he absolutely crush it in the first round that Ren watched but he also cleared to quarterfinals against what the whole team had presumed were far tougher opponents. Nothing could stop Hux now, it seemed, except perhaps his own unfounded lack of confidence.

He lost his last round, despite everyone's belief he should have won and his disappointment was thinly veiled behind his I-don't-care-I-made-it-this-far attitude. Ren honestly just wanted to give him a hug. Or several. Or maybe a kiss.

He stopped for a moment, lost in the fantasy of what hugging Hux would feel like. Hux was even thinner than he was, boney and small next to the majority of boys his age. Ren wasn't big but he was willing to bet that it would be like wrapping his arms around a sapling tree.

Hux asked to put up his hair while they were waiting on awards and for some reason, Ren readily agreed. There was something very soft and appealing about letting someone do as they pleased with his hair.

Hux's hands were soft and careful in his hair, slow and methodical and they combed his hair into a ponytail. Where Hux had learned to put up hair so nicely, with no female siblings or mother, Ren was very curious. In any case, the ponytail looked very nice, even if it did feminize his face a little.

"Do I look gay?" The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized that asking such a question might come across as offensive to Hux. And it felt like a bit of a betrayal of himself.

But Hux only smiled, a strangely soft look for someone who was normally so intense. "No. You look fine. Kind of like a girl, but fine."

Ren kept his hair like that the whole rest of the evening.

Watching Hux go up on stage to receive his award gave Ren the strongest surge of secondhand pride he had ever felt. It was at that moment that he knew debate was a part of his life that was here to stay for the rest of his time at the academy. And so, hopefully, was Hux.

Beautiful, charismatic, whip smart, insecure Hux, with his perfect grades and his chaotic interests and his burning love of anime and debate.

With his incredible drawings and his icy cold hands and his flame bright hair.

Hux.

Percy.

The end of the season meant a lot of things to Ren. The closing of one of the greatest periods of discovery and awakening that Ren had ever been through.

They threw ice at each other in the halls that night, sending pieces of frozen water all up and down the halls and greatly angering their coach. They also ran on the treadmill dripping wet and Ren learned that Hux could do the splits two different ways, making him not on the the most flexible male but also possibly the most flexible person Ren had ever known.

Hux truly was impressive.

The ride back to their home planet was a little more subdued than most of the rides they had been on. Somehow, in the hours of talking, Ren ended up putting his head in Hux's lap and simply staying there, black hair down from the second ponytail Hux had put it in and splayed across Hux's paper white skin.

For such a skinny, fitness addict person, Hux had very comfortable thighs. Neither super soft nor totally hard, they were possibly the most comfortable pillow Ren had ever had the pleasure of using.

Or maybe he just liked Hux.

Untangling his legs from Hux's and climbing out of the transport for the last time was one of the hardest and most nostalgic moments of Ren's short life. Hux was about as welcoming and loving as a block of ice but like a moth to a flame, Ren was drawn to him. Impossibly, beautifully drawn to him.

The weeks that followed the season were interesting to say the least. Han made Ren get a haircut, something he had been pointedly avoiding all season after Hux made an offhand comment about his hair being cute, and for whatever reason, Hux had the nerve to call him adorable.

As if.

Hux was the one that was adorable, obviously.

And Ren took the chance to tell him so when Hux wore eyeliner to school two weeks later. Hux wore eyeliner and didn't even gel his hair.

Hux really was going to be the death of him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading? If you want me to write more mutual pining stuff from Kylo Ren's POV comment and let me know what I should write. :3


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